Finkelstein, Julie : Seed Grant, 2014-2015

Nutrition and Infection: Building Collaborative Research to Improve Population Health in Ecuador

Project Abstract:

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) exact a tremendous toll in terms of morbidity, mortality, and impaired quality of life among the poorest and most vulnerable populations worldwide. However, as the name implies, they do not receive the same attention from the clinical, public health, and donor communities as diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis, or malaria. Dengue fever, in particular, is an urgent threat to global health and development, affecting over 400 million people each year in more than 100 countries. The interplay between nutritional status and infectious diseases has been long established, but its role in dengue is unknown. No studies to date have investigated the role of nutrition in dengue infection in Ecuador, where it poses a severe threat to population health. The proposed study will be the largest, first of its kind, and the most comprehensive study in the world to date investigating the role of nutrition in dengue infection.